


Too Late

by ChildishGlover



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Season 4 AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 09:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25348762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChildishGlover/pseuds/ChildishGlover
Summary: It's the start of their Senior Year at Greendale. Jeff is finally ready to tell Annie how he feels, but something gets in the way.
Relationships: Annie Edison/Jeff Winger, Britta Perry & Jeff Winger
Comments: 22
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I'm back. Thanks as always to the people in the #fan-fics channel at the community discord. You know who you guys are :)

It wasn’t the best summer for Jeff Winger. He was forced to retake biology after the sudden absence of Professor Kane as their teacher. But he made it all the way through and actually managed to study and prepare for their final. Retaking biology brought the group closer together so they ended up hanging out almost every day at Greendale and some days out of Greendale.

Sometimes, they’d have dinner at Troy, Annie, and Abed’s apartment. Sometimes, they’d have barbecues with Shirley and her family. They even sometimes had dinner at Pierce’s house, which was surprisingly enjoyable.

And now, a week from the start of their senior year at Greendale, Jeff was lying across his couch mindlessly scrolling through the endless cable channels. He seemed to be scrolling forever until he stopped on an episode of M.A.S.H. Jeff was chuckling at one of Hawkeye’s stories to Radar when a knock occurred at the door. He certainly wasn’t expecting anyone on a random Monday night, but he managed to get himself up and walk towards the door.

He opened it to find Britta, a bottle of wine in hand. She waltzed into the apartment and Jeff mumbled “sure, come on in.”

Britta ignored him and opened up the bottle on his kitchen counter. She reached into a cupboard, grabbing two glasses, and walked back towards the counter.

“What are you doing here?” Jeff asked Britta as she began to pour two glasses.

“We’re gonna talk, whether you like it or not.” 

“What is there to talk about?”

“You and Annie.” She replied bluntly.

“Britta, there is no me and-” Jeff started, before being cut off.

“Oh give it a rest, will you? You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me.”

“I don’t want to do this right now.” He responded, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Jeff Winger doesn’t want to talk about his feelings? Shocker!” She said, waving her hands in the air.

“There are no feelings to talk about.” He said. 

Obviously, that wasn’t true. Jeff had been battling his feelings with Annie for over two years now, unable to bring himself to a reasonable conclusion. There were always two conflicting parts of him. One telling him that he was an old, disgusting pervert and that men shouldn't pursue women 12 years younger than them. The other telling him that love doesn’t revolve around age. And shit, did he just say love? Luckily, he was snapped out of his thoughts by Britta scoffing.

“Yeah, sure there aren’t Jeff.” Britta laughed. “You two staring at each other all day is just platonic, right?”

“Why are we talking about this? Why do you even care?” Jeff said, not answering Britta’s question.

“Quit being so deflective Jeff, you can’t deny things forever. Some day, Annie’s gonna go off and marry a prince and you’ll be left thinking ‘what if’.” 

“Just answer my question,” Jeff replied.

“Answer mine.” Britta countered, raising an eyebrow. 

“Okay, fine. I have some feelings for Annie.” Britta pumped her fist and began to dance around the room.

“Score for Britta! I win!” She screamed, continue to dance randomly.

“Britta, you’re not on Dancing with the Stars and you’re not a therapist.” She frowned and walked back to sit down next to him, downing her second glass of wine.

“So…..what are you gonna do?” She asked, looking towards him.

“I’m not gonna do anything because there’s no need to do anything.” He replied a little too quickly, resulting in a raised eyebrow from Britta.

“Let me get this straight.” She said. Jeff rolled his eyes and prepared for yet another lecture. “You have feelings for her and she has feelings for you and you’re gonna do nothing?”

“She has feelings for me?” Jeff inquired, instantly realizing how much like a 13-year-old girl who found out her crush liked her he sounded. He was becoming weak. What was Annie doing to him? And why did he like it?

“Yes, you idiot. A woman has feelings for Jeff Winger, so surprised?” 

“Whatever, I don’t care.” He lied.

Britta rolled her eyes and snorted a little at him. “Sure you don’t.” She giggled again and began to pour herself another glass of wine. However, before she could, Jeff stopped her.

“You’ve had enough Britta, I’m already gonna have to drive you home.” He stated, annoyed.

“Fine.” She answered, crossing her arms over her chest. She then pointed at Jeff and spoke again. “But we’re not done with you, mister. Why don’t you want to admit anything?”

“There’s nothing to admit.” He grumbled, boiling with anger.

“Jeff, when are you gonna stop being a Grinch and let people in?”

“I’m not a grinch.” He grumbled again.

“People can’t help you if you keep closing yourself off.”

“I don’t need to be helped!” He yelled.

“Sure Jeff, you’re an ignorant jag who can’t admit his feelings and uses sarcastic quips to get away from serious things, but you don’t need help at all.” She replied sarcastically.

Jeff heavily breathed out and spoke again, lowering his voice this time. “Even if I needed help, which I don’t.” He clarified. “Why would I come to you?”

“Because I’m your friend and I, you know, care about you and stuff.” Britta countered, looking away.

“Why do you care about setting me up with Annie?” He asked.

“I’ll admit, I think Annie deserves better than you. Like way better. Like waaaay better.” Britta said, laughing.

“I get it, Britta.”

“Do you?” She responded. “I don’t know what Annie sees in you, but she sees something. What I do know, is that you two make each other happy and I can’t get in the way of that. Annie somehow gets you, she’s right for you, Jeff. But you can’t keep denying it, she’s not gonna be waiting forever.”

He considered what she had said. Annie did get him. For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint her. Sure, he could blame it on her big, doe eyes. But he knew it was more than that. Age was definitely an issue but in the moments they shared together, the long looks and stolen glances, all he could think about was her. Age didn’t even seem to matter in what he felt for her.

And Britta was right, she wouldn’t be waiting forever. He’d already denied her and played with her feelings enough, maybe it was time he actually did something. 

“Fine Britta, you win. Now let me drive you home.” Britta began to wave her hands in the air again but Jeff motioned for her to stop by raising his hand. “And if you say anything about you winning or therapizing me, I will leave you on the side of the highway.”

She quickly nodded, grabbed her purse, and walked to the door. Jeff would never admit it, but Britta actually helped him a lot.

***

Jeff thought about his conversation with Britta way more than he’d like to say he had. Her words constantly resounded in his head. “She’s not gonna be waiting forever”. Shockingly, Britta was right. And that’s what messed Jeff up. If even Britta saw how idiotic he was being, he should be able to as well.

So he devised himself a plan. He couldn’t deny himself any longer, he wanted to tell her. He needed to tell her.

He’d wait until the back to school party with the study group at Shirley’s house. When they finished dinner, he’d pull her aside and tell her how he felt. That he couldn’t lie to her or himself any longer. Even if she’d say no, it wouldn’t be fair if he didn’t tell her.

So Jeff thought about what he’d say, he had a whole Winger Speech planned. He’d say something generic about wanting to be with her. How she was so beautiful, smart, driven and so much more.

But with just a couple days until the party, Jeff concluded that he didn’t want to do something scripted that he had planned out. Although all those things were true, he didn’t want to have to convince himself of that through some highly organized and thought out speech. He needed to just be honest, to her and himself.

Now, just a few hours before the party, Jeff was freaking out. He nervously paced back and forth through his apartment, going to the bathroom every so often to make sure his hair was perfect. He put on his favorite blue shirt and jeans, checked his hair one last time, and walked out the door.

It wasn’t a big deal. He’d tell her and what would happen, would happen. Then why was he so nervous? He’d used his words many times before to get people out of life-changing charges yet he was still nervous about telling a petite brunette about some dumb feelings.

He was still nervous as he got on the road to head to Shirley’s house. He kept telling himself it didn’t matter, but it did. For most women, Jeff would buy them a drink, tell her a joke or two, talk about his job as a fancy lawyer, and take her home. But Annie Edison was different. He didn’t want to sweet-talk her into his bed, he wanted to genuinely tell her how he felt. He cared about her more than any other woman ever.

He was still nervous as he arrived at Shirley’s house and began to walk to the door. He was anxiously swinging his keys around his finger as we went and knocked on the door. He heard some rustling behind the door before the door opened. Annie stood in the frame and his heart stopped. 

He mentally scolded himself for being so whipped and averted his eyes from her gaze. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, seeing her brow furrow. She cleared her throat. “Uh, come on in.” She gestured inside for him to enter.

He cleared his throat as well and walked inside. Instantly, he smelled the scent of pizza in the direction of the kitchen. He walked towards it, away from Annie, and saw Shirley taking the pizza out of the oven. Her eyes brightened when she saw him.

“Oh Jeffrey, you made it!” She said excitedly, putting the pizza down on the table to go and hug Jeff. Jeff pulled into the hug. Shirley had become less like a mother figure and more like one of his best friends. They were oddly similar and that’s what made them so close.

He pulled back and smelled the pizza. It was horrible, but Jeff learned that baking one of the things that kept Shirey sane so he went along with it. “Mmm smells delicious.” He lied. Shirley seemed to smile as she perked up and began to set the table. Jeff walked to the den and noticed the study group, Andre, and Shirley’s kids strayed across the room.

He heard a few “Hey Jeff”s and “Jeff’s here”s as he sat down on the open space on the couch next to Abed. He was intently focused on the episode when Shirley called everyone in saying it was ready. Andre, Elijah, Jordan, and Ben went to sit outside on the deck while the study group sat at the table inside.

They filed into their typical seats as they dug into the homemade pizza. It tasted just like it smelled, but it seemed the other study group members didn’t want to hurt Shirley’s feelings either. They all made faces of pretending enjoyment except for Pierce.

“This tastes horrible!” He shouted, spitting his food back onto the plate. 

“Pierce!” Annie shouted, shooting a look of disapproval in Pierce’s direction.

“What? It does!” He replied.

“That’s o-kay, not everyone has to like my food,” Shirley said a fake smile across her face.

“Oh thank god,” Troy spoke up, also spitting his food on his plate.

“Does anyone like my pizza?” Shirley asked with anger boiling in her voice. The remaining group members looked around the table at each other. Simultaneously, they smiled at Shirley awkwardly.

“Abed, you’re like a robot, do you like my pizza?” Shirley asked. She was being highly passive-aggressive, a sign of her bottling of a ton of rage.

Abed raised a finger and answered. “Well, robots don’t have taste buds. But, as a neutral voice and pizza advocate, this is terrible.” He said bluntly.

Shirley frowned before speaking again. “Whoever doesn’t want to eat my pizza, doesn’t have to. But if you don’t eat it, just know that you’re throwing hours of work from a hardworking mother away.” She said passive-aggressively.

The rest of the dinner went by fairly awkwardly. Pierce, Troy, and Abed sat there too scared to ask to look through Shirley’s fridge for more food while Jeff, Annie, and Britta tried to swallow Shirley’s dinner. All The While, Shirley was looking expectantly at everyone.

After dinner, everyone filed into the den to watch shows on Shirley’s TV. Abed scrolled through the channels for a while before finally stopping on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Picard had just gone missing during an archaeological trip on an unknown planet when Shirley asked the group a question.

“So how were your summers?” She asked. “You know, besides retaking biology.”

Britta instantly spoke up, as if she’d been waiting to say it. “I actually went to South America to protest deforestation and the dehabitation of animals in rainforests. Did you guys know that-.” Britta was cut off by a sea of groans and pillows thrown her way. She pouted and returned to watching the television.

“Actually, Abed and I have an announcement,” Troy stated.

“You’re pregnant?” Pierce asked, laughing to himself. Everyone glared at him. “What? It’s funny, they’re gay and they said they have an announcement.” The group continued to glare.

“Anyways, Abed and I are starting our own film-making club for the school,” Troy said.

“Oh, that’s nice!” Shirley replied.

The group bantered about the club for a while before Annie asked Jeff what he did over the summer. Jeff froze and his heart stopped again.  
“Uh, you know. Just hung out.” He managed to get out, choking on his words.

“Go to any bars, Jeff? Pick up any women?” Britta asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” Jeff responded, annoyed by the conversation. He knew what Britta was getting at and wanted her to cut it out. But she persisted.

“Jeff Winger not sleeping with women? Why could that be?” Britta asked knowingly. Jeff wanted to throw the pillow at her but he knew the group, especially Abed, would catch that something was going on. He surveyed the looks of the other members of the group. Shirley was looking at him sternly, probably for committing ungodly sins. Abed had an eyebrow raised, most likely analyzing Jeff’s every expression. Pierce had dozed off in the corner, a bit of drool spilling down his chin. Troy was just watching Levar Burton in awe on the TV. And Annie looked around the room, clearly uncomfortable.

“Doesn’t matter.” He mumbled. “What did you do this summer, Shirley?” Jeff asked, changing the conversation. Britta glared at him, but the conversation continued around them about Shirley’s boys’ day camp and how she sometimes worked as a counselor.

“How about you Annie, what did you do this summer?” Troy asked. Annie beamed at Troy’s question.

“Well, I went to this summer program for students aspiring to work in health management. And we did a bunch of dioramas, and got to meet with different advisors about roles we could potentially take nearby!” She said cheerily.

“Any boys?” Britta asked teasingly. Annie blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Before she could respond, Andre and the boys came back in.

“Ice cream time!” He shouted. Shirley’s boys and Troy and Abed ran to the kitchen behind Andre leaving Annie, Jeff, Britta, Shirley, and a sleeping Pierce. Jeff walked over to pierce and slapped him on the knees a few times. 

“Eartha Kitt!” Pierce yelled while stirring. He looked around seeing the confused looks on his friends' faces. “I’m sorry, I was just having a very detailed sex dream where-”

“Okay!” Jeff shouted, cutting off Pierce. The group walked over to the kitchen, greeted by Troy, Abed, and Shirley’s boys fighting over a tub of vanilla/strawberry/chocolate ice cream.

“I want chocolate!” Troy shouted, nearing tears. “It’s not fair!” He stormed off, wiping his sleeve over his eyes.

Jeff fought back a chuckle and Annie slapped him on the arm. Jeff looked meaningfully at Annie and she glanced back. He didn’t know how long they stayed like that before Britta cleared her throat and they both looked away awkwardly.

“Jeff, a word?” Jeff nodded and Annie walked away keeping her head down. He thought he saw a little blush across the side of her cheeks, but he killed the thought when Britta took his arm and dragged him out of the room. 

“You can’t keep doing this Jeff.” She said, glaring at him.

“Doing what?” Jeff said, playing dumb.

“Come on, you can’t keep pushing this away. Especially after our conversation, it's not fair to her.” Britta responded.

He sighed heavily, looking around everywhere but Britta’s eyes. “Fine, I’ll tell her. Just please, I want to do it at the right time.”

“Okay, but if you don’t tell her, I will. And then she’ll see how much of a coward you are. Just do it, Jeff.” She flipped her hair away and strutted out of the room. Somehow, he’d managed to let Britta win.

He sighed again and walked back to the kitchen. Everyone had cups of ice cream and were digging into them, even Troy who had managed to get the chocolate he’d wanted. 

Annie pointed a cup with a scoop of Vanilla ice cream towards him. “Want some?” She asked, eyes wide as ever. It was almost impossible to reject her but he didn’t want a hard day at the gym tomorrow, especially with whatever would happen tonight. 

“No thanks, Annie. I need to keep this.” He said, gesturing towards his body. She rolled her eyes and suppressed a giggle.

“Come on Jeff. One scoop couldn’t hurt.” She gave him her doe eyes and he just couldn’t say no. Annie could probably get him to kill someone with just her eyes. He wasn’t lying a few years ago, she became dangerous.

He reluctantly took the ice cream and began to dig into it. He’d need another day at the gym but it actually tasted really good. Maybe he should loosen up and eat more junk. Oh god, first Annie got him to write in a stupid journal and now he was eating junk food. 

When Jeff finished his ice cream, he washed the cup in the sink and walked back to the living room where Troy, Abed, and Britta were watching more Star Trek. Jeff leaned back in the recliner and zoned out as Troy talked about not being able to disappoint Levar over the TV while Abed was arguing with Britta about whether Kirk or Picard was the better captain.

The rest of the group slowly filed back in and they fell into a comfortable silence watching TV. It was a nice moment. Pierce wasn’t being racist, Britta wasn’t complaining about the machine, and Abed wasn’t making any obnoxious references. They sat in that comfortable silence for what was probably hours until they heard a knock at the door.

“Who’s gonna get it?” Jeff grumbled, noticing how everyone was probably too lazy to get it. The group all shot their fingers to lay at the tip of their noses, except for Annie. She frowned but got up and began to walk slowly towards the door. 

Jeff diverted back his attention to the TV before he heard some giggling from the front door. He slowly got up as well and started towards the front door. As he got closer, he saw Annie laughing and twirling her hair. Confused, he walked closer and closer. Finally, he arrived at the door and saw a guy with wavy, dirty blonde hair probably a half foot smaller than him.

Nervously, he asked, "Who’s this?”

She looked between the two men. “Oh Jeff, this is Daniel.” She said. “My boyfriend.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big shoutout as always to the people in the fan fic channel of the community discord, you know who you are :) Abed makes some friends references, I haven't seen it in a while so sorry If i got something wrong. Feel free to leave feedback in the comments. I don't always answer comments but I love to hear what you think. Enjoy.

Jeff was fumbling for any possible word. “Boyfriend?” He finally managed to get out. Why didn’t she tell him about this?

“Well, uh, yeah. We were going to wait until the school year to tell you, we wanted to see where this would go. Also, the group isn’t always fond of outsiders.”

Jeff was still trying to gage everything that was going on. He couldn’t tell her all that he was feeling now. Not when she was ready and excited to tell the group about her new, seemingly serious boyfriend. He had no plan from there so he just nodded at Annie and gestured for Daniel to come in.

He smiled politely at Jeff and followed Annie towards the living room. With both of them gone, Jeff had to reassess his thoughts again. Just five minutes ago, he was ready to tell Annie all the feelings he’d been bottling up for the better half of three years. And now, he’d have to watch her all lovey-dovey with _Daniel._

He grabbed his keys and phone from the kitchen counter and walked straight out the door, slamming it behind him. He couldn’t bear to watch Annie and her stupid boyfriend.

Jeff opened the door to his Lexus and hopped in. He started the car and drove off, ignoring the sad, blue eyes watching him from the door.

***

Jeff stomped his feet the whole way up to his apartment, muttering obscenities under his breath. After getting to his apartment, he opened and slammed the door closed. He threw his keys onto the couch and slammed his phone onto the coffee table. Damn his phone, he was livid.

He went to his liquor cabinet and pulled out the Scotch he had in there. For a second, he considered throwing it against the wall just to release some anger. But he reconsidered, not willing to waste a night of drinking himself to sleep. 

He opened the bottle, collecting a glass, and poured himself a drink. He took a long sip, welcoming the smoky, burning sensation in his throat. The night went on mostly like that, Jeff forgetting the last sip every time he took a new one. The last thing he remembered before passing out was thinking about Annie being happy, not with him.

***

Jeff woke up to the sun peeking through his blinds. He didn’t remember falling asleep on the couch so he tried to get up and gage his surroundings. That was a mistake, as he immediately felt a horrible, throbbing pain in his head. He lied back down, beginning to feel nauseous, as he attempted to remember the night before.

He remembered going to Shirley’s back to school party. He remembered Shirley’s horrible pizza. He remembered Pierce’s pregnancy comments and Abed and Britta’s Star Trek argument. His head began to throb more but he attempted to recall more of the night.

He remembered ice cream, the cup Annie got him to eat. _Annie. Annie’s boyfriend._ At the thought of Annie's boyfriend, Jeff felt a horrible taste build at the back of the throat. He got up, ignoring the pain in his head, and stumbled into the bathroom. He set his head over the toilet and emptied himself into it. 

After a few minutes of lying over the toilet, Jeff recollected himself, head hurting a little less, and walked back over to the couch. That’s when he noticed his phone on the coffee table, showing 13 new messages on it.

The first was for some article about new hair products and facial cream that he mentally told himself to look at later. The rest were messages from the various study group members.

Voice Command  
\- Pierce Hawthorne 10:46 PM

How to use voice command  
\- Pierce Hawthorne 10:47 PM

Jeff!  
\- Britta Perry 10:53 PM

Where’d you go?  
\- Britta Perry 10:54 PM

Does this have something to do with Annie?  
\- Britta Perry 10:58 PM

You’re the worst  
\- Britta Perry 11:01 PM

Why did you leave sweetie?  
\- Shirley Bennett 11:01 PM

You better have went to find God  
\- Shirley Bennett 11:14 PM

Dude, where did you go?  
\- Troy Barnes 11:27 PM

Annie’s new boyfriend is super nice  
\- Troy Barnes 11:28 PM

Sorry you had to go  
\- Annie Edison 11:45 PM

Goodnight Jeff  
\- Annie Edison 11:46 PM

Jeff sighed, looking away from his phone. He got back up and sat on the couch. Suddenly, he heard another pounding in his head. Or maybe it was at his door? He got up and walked to his door, opening it to find Britta once again.

“You look like crap,” She stated. 

“Thanks,” He mumbled.

She looked him up and down, narrowing her eyes. She waltzed into his apartment.

“It smells like loneliness here, how much did you drink?”

Jeff thought about it. He remembered opening the glass and pouring himself a drink but beyond that, he couldn’t recall. Britta spoke again before he could answer.

“Jeff!” She yelled. “You drank half a bottle!”

He groaned, running a hand through his hair. He didn’t want to deal with Britta right then. He wanted to watch mindless television and drink until he passed out again. Tomorrow was the first day at Greendale, the start of his final year. Truth be told, it all went by too fast for him. He wanted to get in and out but discovered that he actually liked the people along the way. And there it was again. What was this corny crap?

“Britta, I’m not in the mood right now.”

“Is this about Annie?” 

“What? No!” He lied. 

She narrowed her eyebrows in a speculatory manner. “Mhm, sure Jeff.” She said. “You were ready to tell Annie everything. Suddenly, her new boy-toy shows up and you’re out of there.”

“Whatever,” He said, shaking his head and walking back to the couch. He turned on the television and ignored Britta’s glances.

She stomped over to him, took the remote, and shut the television off. “Seriously, Jeff?” She questioned. “You can’t just lie here, self-loathe, and drink until your heart stops.”

“What else is there to do, Britta?” Jeff countered, annoyed. What else was there to do? Annie was happy with Daniel, Jeff had to let her be happy. Loving someone meant having to let them go if it made them happy.

“You still have to tell her, Jeff.” She stated. “It’s still not fair to her, whether she has a boyfriend or not.”

“Unfair is telling her how I feel and leaving her with confusion and mixed emotions. It’s better if I just let her go.”

“You’re not letting her go, Jeff. She’s been with Daniel for two months. Sure, he may have deep, mysterious eyes and a gorgeous smile. And sure, maybe he’s her age and working the same field. And sure-”

“Not helping…” Jeff said, cutting Britta off.

“Whatever,” She replied. “The point is that she and Daniel barely know each other. It’s not like they’re getting married.”

“No, but in 5 years they might. And I don’t want to ruin that relationship because I’m a selfish guy who’s hopelessly in love with someone!” Jeff said all in one breath. Britta gasped.

He didn’t know why he said it. Obviously, he’d thought it before to himself because Annie was, well, Annie. She was beautiful, smart, driven. Of course, there was her age, she’d always be younger than him, but if Jeff learned something about his revelation, it’s that love doesn’t rely on age. He didn’t know how long he could keep Annie at arm's length, but it didn't matter anymore. He'd had a chance and he lost it. Why he’d blurt it out to Britta, he had no idea.

She blinked repeatedly before regaining her senses and began laughing. “Sure, like I’m supposed to believe Jeff Winger is in love with someone.” She laughed again.

Jeff grumbled nonsense and turned the TV back on. Britta gasped again. “Holy crap! You didn’t say anything snarky in response. You really are in love with her!” She yelled, pointing at him.

Why did it have to be Britta? Now she’d want to therapize him and ask a million questions and he did not want to deal with that. He grumbled more nonsense and turned back to the TV.

“Well this changes everything,” She stated, pacing around the room.

“Britta, you can not tell her,” Jeff said angrily, glaring at her. Jeff really didn’t want Annie to feel upset or confused. He just wanted her to be happy. Her finding out would just give her confusion and he couldn’t bear to be the one to make Annie upset or hate him.

“I won’t tell her,” Britta said. Jeff breathed a sigh of relief. “But you will!” She followed up. Jeff smacked his forehead with his palm and rolled his eyes.

“Britta, I thought we were over this.”

“That was before love entered the ring.” She responded. “It’s even more unfair now.”

Jeff breathed out an annoyed, heavy breath and spoke again. “Unfair is telling someone you love them when they’re in a happy relationship.”

“You’re hopeless, Jeff.” She said, sighing. “One day you’ll realize it.” She grabbed her purse and keys and walked out the door.

***

Jeff woke up on the first day back to Greendale feeling horrible. He couldn't sleep the prior night thinking about seeing Annie again, so he had more Scotch until he fell asleep from that. 

It wasn’t a good morning. First, his alarm clock failed to go off so he only had 15 minutes before his first class, philosophy with the rest of the study group. He didn’t have time to take a shower so he quickly ran some product through his hair and applied some facial cream.

And then he got stuck in traffic on his way to GCC and arrived on campus just a few minutes before the study group’s class together. He had to sprint to the philosophy room just to make it on time.

When he got there, the class was beginning. He gaged the classroom, seeing Annie in the front. She turned back to look at him so he avoided her gaze and took a seat in the back next Abed and Britta.

Britta turned to him and whispered. “You look like crap.”

“Thanks,” He turned and whispered back.

He surveyed the rest of the group across the room. Pierce looked bored out of his mind, Troy was tapping his pencils against the desk, drumming to a beat. Shirley was humming a tune and staying focused on the front of the classroom. Abed was looking at him with a head turned and an eyebrow raised. Britta was looking back from him to Annie over and over. Then there was her. She was focused on the professor at the front of the classroom, attentively taking notes.

Jeff stared at nothing for the entire class. If the professor ever asked him anything philosophical, he could just Winger Speech his way out of it. Philosophy was his perfect class.

He wouldn’t see the other members until study group, having made a last-minute decision to switch his lunch to the earlier period. The decision may or may not have been made last night after finding out about Daniel.

He walked into the cafeteria, expecting to eat his salad in peace, so he was shocked when he saw Abed pull into the seat next to him. 

“What are you doing here?” Jeff asked.

“I had to switch my lunch to take a class about Johnny Depp. How about you?”

“Uh you know, for class reasons.” Jeff lied.

Abed eyed him skeptically, but ignored the lie and moved on. They ate in comfortable silence until Abed asked the question Jeff prayed no one would.

“Why’d you leave the party the other day?” Abed asked, chewing on a chicken finger.

“Uh, you know, I had some….stuff to care of.” Jeff lied again. He knew Abed would call him out but it was worth a try.

“I’m not the best with feelings,” Abed said, swallowing the final bite of his chicken fingers. “But I can relate most real-life situations to situations from TV.”

Uh oh, Jeff thought.

“This is like in Friends when Rachel went to the airport to tell Ross how he felt, but then she found out Ross met someone on the trip.”

Busted. Jeff’s eyes widened at Abed’s surprisingly accurate reference. He quickly noticed Abed quirk an eyebrow so he returned himself to a poker face and stared back at Abed.

“How is it like that, Abed?” Jeff inquired, maintaining composure.

“Well, Ross and Rachel had significant sexual tension throughout the first season. Rachel was prepared to go for Ross at the start of the second season. Our scenario is a bit different because you and Annie had tension for most of our three seasons. Now entering our fourth, you were ready to tell Annie how you felt, but then Daniel showed up. That’s why you left.” Abed finished.

“Psshh, that’s ridiculous Abed,” Jeff said while laughing and avoiding Abed’s gaze.

But Abed continued to stare blankly at him. “I don’t see any other option. Besides you saying ‘stuff to take care of’, which is an obvious lie. Figure it out, Jeff. Or you’ll end up like Ross. It took him 10 years to end up permanently with Rachel.”

With that, Abed through his empty plate into the garbage and walked off. All Jeff could do was stare at Abed, considering everything that he said to him. Would Jeff really have to wait 10 years? No, this wasn’t some dumb TV show. Jeff wasn’t tied down by writers to not do anything about his relationships. Unless he tied himself down? No, Annie was happy with Daniel, and as a _friend_ , he’d have to be supportive. Even if he hated Daniel's guts. 

***

Jeff walked into the study room, fashionably late, prepared for their "studying" to come.

“Look who decided to show up.” Britta snarled at him. Jeff stuck out a tongue in response and sat down, kicking his feet up on the desk.

“How were everyone’s first days?” Shirley asked cheerily, looking around at the other members.

Abed spoke up first. “In my Johnny Depp class, we debated whether he was better in Pirates of the Caribbean or Scissorhands. I knew it was Scissorhands but apparently some people just really like pirates.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Troy added. He and Abed proceeded to imitate famous pirate impressions much to the group’s chagrin. 

They were cut off by Britta, talking about her class on feminine studies. “I learned about the most powerful and influential women of all time! We discussed how they battled the patriarchy and-” Britta frowned at the series of boo’s thrown her way. “Do I ever get to talk about feminine studies?” She asked.

“You can talk about your lesbian studies,” Pierce added. Groans and a sound of disgust from Britta were sent his way.

“I had my first class on Epidemiology!” Annie said excitedly. How could she get excited over everything, Jeff wondered. It was no doubt one of the reasons he loved her and ugh, more of these thoughts.

“Epidemiology. Why does that sound so familiar?” Abed wondered to no one in particular, staring off into the distance.

The group ignored him. “Oh An-nie, how was it?” Shirley asked. At that, Annie beamed even more and began to talk about the basics of her epidemiological studies. Jeff probably would’ve fallen asleep had it been anyone else talking. But since it was Annie, he was surprisingly invested in her introduction to the analysis of the distribution, patterns, and determinants of health and disease conditions in defined populations.

Occasionally, she’d look at him and smile brightly. His heart would melt and his legs would feel like jelly until he looked away, maintaining his composure. How could someone affect the infamously unaffectable Jeff Winger so greatly? 

Then he’d remember she had a boyfriend and all these thoughts would go away. It was his fault to be fair. He pushed and pushed her away, he couldn't have expected her to wait forever.

“Jeff?” He was startled by Annie suddenly calling his name. “How were your classes?”

“Uh.” She was smiling curiously at him and his brain stopped thinking words. When he didn’t say anything for a while, she raised an eyebrow, looking worried. “They were, uh, good.” He said, struggling for words. 

Britta and Abed eyed him skeptically while the rest of the group just looked confused. Then, Britta and Abed eyed each other knowingly, looked at Jeff, and backed at each other. They both came to the silent agreement of being in on Jeff’s situation.

“Shirley," Jeff said, seeing Shirley bouncing in her seat. “How were your classes?”

“Oh, well thanks for asking Jeff-rey.” She said giddily. “I started taking classes on Advertising and Marketing so I can keep my sandwich shop open.”

She looked around for appraise, but the rest of the group was seemingly out of it. She looked at Jeff and gave him her angry mother's face.

Jeff reacted quickly. “Wow, Shirley. So interesting. Please tell us more.” Jeff said like there was a gun being pointed at his head.

Shirley thanked Jeff and proceeded to explain the ins and outs of running her business and how small business owners were supposed to keep their shop up and running. By the end, half the group had fallen asleep and the other half was about to.

“So what do you guys think?” Shirley asked, looking around the table. The group looked around awkwardly.

“I’m a Messiah.” Troy contrived.

“Oh wow, Troy. Let’s talk about that and not any other topics.” Britta said.

Shirley frowned at the group. “I’m sure you guys aren’t ignoring a mother of three who simply needs some help with her business.” She stated with her classic Shirley passive-aggression.

“Oh, would you look at the time,” Troy said, looking at his watch-less wrist. “Off to the film-makers club. Let’s go, Abed.”

“But the club doesn’t start for-” Abed started before Troy cut him off.

“Let’s _go_ , Abed,” Troy said. Abed raised his eyebrows understandingly and began to pack up his stuff. 

“I have to leave too,” Britta said. “Feminism stuff.” She gestured towards the exit and left.

That left just Shirley, Pierce, Jeff, and Annie.

“You can show me your _feminine_ stuff.” Pierce said to Shirley. She rolled her eyes, grabbed her purse, and walked away. Jeff and Annie followed suit, walking side by side in the hallway.

There was an awkward silence between them as they walked in synchrony.

“So what-”

“How is-”

They laughed and looked at each other.

“Sorry, I-”

“Sorry-”

They laughed again and Annie spoke up.

“I'm sorry you had to leave the other day. I really wanted you to more thoroughly meet Daniel.” She said. 

“Oh, uh, yeah. Me too.” He lied. 

“I’m going to invite him to the ‘Back to School’ dance on Friday, so you can meet him then.”

“Oh, cool.” He managed to get out.

Jeff really didn’t want to meet Daniel. He didn’t want to talk with the boyfriend of the girl he was in love with. Daniel got to have his hands all over Annie, and all Jeff could do was watch.

Finally, they walked out of school and up to Annie’s beat up honda. 

“Well this is my stop,” She said smiling and looking up at him.

“Yeah,” He smiled back down at her.

He gestured for a hug while she gestured for a handshake. They smiled awkwardly and reversed their gestures. Finally, Jeff just got out a “Bye” and walked away.

He sighed to himself as he walked back to his Lexus. He wished things would go back to normal, but Jeff realizing he loved her helped him come to a different conclusion. For better or for worse, their lives could never go back to the way they were.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a little while :( I'll try to update more often. Thanks to the people in the fan fics channel of the Community Discord, this wouldn't be a thing if it weren't for you, so thanks! You know who you are ;)

It was now Friday morning and Jeff was nowhere close to excited to meet Annie’s boyfriend. The week had seemed to fly, way too fast for his liking. He was about to meet what was probably the love of Annie’s life. He’d go to their wedding, be there when their first kid was born, go to their kids’ birthday parties. He was getting ahead of himself but it still didn't make him feel any better.

He didn’t want to seem like jealous Jeff again like he had with Vaughn, Rich, or even the black rider. Him and his unhandsome face. The least Annie deserved was for him to be there and be supportive. Even if he didn’t exactly care for Daniel.

Jeff slammed his fist into his alarm clock, silencing the annoying beeping noise coming from it. He threw the sheets off of himself and rolled out of bed, throwing on a blue button-down and some jeans.

Making his way over to the bathroom, he fixed up his hair a bit before brushing his teeth. After being finished with that, he applied some facial product, gave his hair one last glance, and hopped out the door.

Philosophy was boring. Jeff knew the in’s and out’s of what’s moral and what’s not. What’s good and what’s evil. He knew practically everything from his days as a lawyer. His job had been to convince people that what his client was doing was right, even if it wasn't.

The rest of the group, however, had been surprisingly interested throughout the week. Jeff even managed to catch _Pierce_ taking down notes. Or he may have been writing in his long, detailed sex journal. He wasn't sure.

Friday’s lesson was about logic. How to use it to evaluate and create claims. This one was another easy one for Jeff. Practically all his Winger speeches used logic and common sense to manipulate people into believing what he was saying.

After what seemed like forever, the class finally ended. As the group began to file out of the class, Annie gave Jeff a bright smile and a little wave. He forced a tight smile back and ducked out of the classroom. 

The rest of the day went by pretty slow for him, as he was agonizing each hour that passed. His Calculus class sucked, same with Environmental Science. Criminal law was easy, Jeff only took it for an easy A. The teacher knew that but didn't care, Jeff actually found that he was teaching her more than she was teaching him. Either way, Jeff couldn’t complain about an A.

He finally made it to lunch, a little later than normal, and found Abed sitting at a booth. He was digging into his hamburger and french fries when he noticed Jeff and raised his eyebrows.

They’d made a habit over the week, talking about whatever TV show or movie Abed had watched the passed night. But “they’d talk” really meant Abed would go on and on about his opinions of the movie and how he would’ve handled it differently. Jeff was okay with Abed ranting for an hour or so. It was surprisingly nice, just to have someone to listen to.

But just like every once in a while, when Jeff least expected it, Abed threw in a comment about Annie that completely threw off their conversation.

“So are you excited to meet Daniel tonight?” Abed asked.

“Super excited,” Jeff replied, trying to be as bright as possible, but it ended up sounding incredibly forced.

Abed eyed him with a curious expression and shook his head lightly. They just sat there in silence for the remainder of the lunch period. Jeff playing Candy Crush on his phone, Abed eyeing him, raising an eyebrow.

It was probably one of Jeff’s worst and most uncomfortable lunch periods in history. And that was saying something at Greendale. 

After his afternoon classes, Jeff was done and finally ready to get home. He would've drunk a lot, watched M.A.S.H, and passed out on his couch if it weren't for the stupid ‘Back to School’ dance. Maybe he just wouldn’t go. Though as much as he didn’t want to go, he had to. He couldn’t disappoint Annie yet again. Too many times he’d let her down, he couldn’t do it once more.

Jeff waltzed into the study room late, of course, sipping from his coffee cup. For some reason, everyone in the group looked expectantly at him.

He eyed everyone curiously, avoiding Annie’s gaze. They were staring at him with an almost curious gaze. Like they were trying to peer into his soul and pull out his deepest, darkest secrets.

“No, Britta, I don’t know why your cat is sick. No, Troy, I didn’t steal your Star Wars action figure. No, Abed, I don't want to be in your movie. No, Pierce, I haven’t slept with your new girlfriend. No, Shirley, I don’t want to go to your church on Sunday. All good?” Jeff asked sarcastically.

This made the study group seem even more concerned, especially Annie. But he didn’t dare look her way, he’d falter under the mystical power of her eyes.

“We were just gonna ask if you had a date to the dance. Are you okay, Jeffrey?” Shirley inquired, with a hint of motherly worry in her voice. 

He looked around at the other members, they actually seemed...concerned?

Jeff sputtered out a laugh. “I’m fine, guys. Why wouldn’t I be?”

This time, Annie spoke up. "You've just been a bit…..distant. We've all noticed it." Jeff surveyed the other members' responses to see them all nod.

He looked towards Britta and she sent him a knowing look, clearly understanding why he had been sort of avoiding the group. He glanced again towards Abed and saw him maintaining the same understanding look, but with a hinge of curiosity.

"Youalsokindoflooklikeahomelessperson." Troy blurted out. "Sorry, I'm bad at secrets." Abed patted him on the back as Troy frowned down at the ground.

"What! I don't look like a homeless person." Jeff said angrily. 

"They're actually right, Jeff," Britta said, causing Jeff to frown. "You've had actual bedhead, you smell like whiskey, and you're always tired. We're actually pretty worried about you." Britta finished. She genuinely sounded worried. The rest of the group murmured statements of agreement and looked at Jeff, faces filled with the same worrying as Britta.

"Look, guys, my apartment lost its Air Conditioning, so I've had some trouble sleeping. It's really no big deal." The group seemed to buy Jeff's excuse, except for Britta and Abed.

"I can help fix it." Troy started. "You know, being an air conditioning messiah and all."

"It's okay, Troy. It's getting fixed tomorrow." Jeff quickly responded.

He frowned at the ground again but shrugged it off. Jeff decided to change the conversation.

"So Troy, are you taking anyone to the dance?" Jeff asked. Troy's face brightened at the inquiry.

"Actually, Abed and I created a checklist of our favorite school dance tropes so we're gonna try to do all of them!" He exclaimed, followed by him and Abed doing their not-so-secret handshake.

"Gay," Pierce muttered under his breath. Troy and Abed were too focused on talking about their plan for the dance to care.

"What about you Jeff, taking anyone to the dance?" Britta asked, an evil grin spreading ear to ear.

Jeff glared her down, before clearing his throat and responding. "Uh, you know, no one." He awkwardly replied, looking up to see the massive smile on Britta's face.

"How about you?" He asked with the same snark as her. He smiled as the frown on her face dissipated.

"Oh," she started, scratching her neck. "Same as you."

The rest of the group looked on awkwardly at the conversation between Britta and Jeff. While they were glaring each other down, Troy decided to speak up.

"Annie, is Daniel coming?" Troy asked. "He's the best."

Annie's face beamed at the question, causing Jeff to mentally vomit. That was supposed to be the face she made for Jeff. He'd say something funny or nice and she'd beam up at him. And now Annie was using it for good ol Daniel.

"Yes, he is! Normally he'd be volunteering at the animal shelter on Friday nights but since he's done so many hours there, the manager is making him have a day off." Annie said, forcing Jeff to roll his eyes.

So he volunteered at some dumb animal shelter, that didn't make him better than Jeff. He shook his head at the thought.

"Sweet!" Troy said in return. "I hope he brings those gluten-free muffins again, they were so good.

Okay, so he could bake some dumb muffins. That didn't make him better than Jeff, right?

"You never asked me to bake my muffins, Troy. Surely you're not choosing me over some goody-two-shoes you've met once, right?" 

Jeff smiled at that. Shirley's condescension always could make him feel better.

"Shirley!" Annie yelped. "Daniel can be a bad boy." She said shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

Britta scoffed. "Sure, like Daniel would be the one to wear leather boots and spiked shoes." She said, laughing.

The other members of the group began to laugh. "Hey, knock it off!" Jeff yelled. "I'm sure Annie's boyfriend is a great guy."

Jeff didn't know why he said it. He hated Daniel and he hadn't even met him yet. He was probably just like Rich. A cold and cynical interior shadowed by a bright smile and comfortable eyes. He hated Daniel and yet he still rushed to defend him. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he wasn't defending Daniel. He was defending Annie.

He'd probably do anything for Annie. All she'd have to do was look up at him with her adorable, blue eyes and he'd be a goner. She had him wrapped around her finger. But for some reason, Jeff was okay with that.

Jeff usually loved to be more dominant in his relationships. In sex, in arguments, even with the study group, he always wanted to be the powerful one in his interactions with other people. But Annie was different. She stood up to him, challenged him, and made him consider things he wouldn't even dream of if they hadn't been told by her. 

The various members of the study group either murmured apologies to Annie or held up their hands in defense. Except for Abed, who was looking curiously on the situation.

"Got something to say, Abed?" Jeff asked, raising an eyebrow at the man across the table.

Abed shook his head in response. "No, this is just good growth for you." Jeff rolled his eyes at the comment. "In the past few seasons, you've typically been jealous of the guys Annie shows interest in."

"Whatever, Abed," Jeff mumbled under his breath.

"Well, Abed and I have to prepare for the dance so see you guys there," Troy said, beginning to walk out of the room, Abed following suit.

The next few minutes were filled with other excuses and other members leaving the room, which left just him and Annie. "Hopefully this dance won't end with two women telling you they love you," Annie said, trying to break the tension.

Jeff winced at the memory of that night. Being put on the spot in front of the entire school, running out to the quad, kissing Annie. Jeff mentally shook his head at the memory. Thoughts like that weren't helping his plan to get over her.

"Yeah," he replied awkwardly. "I hope not."

She also looked awkward, a smile plastered across her face. "Well, I better get going." She stated, gesturing towards the door. "I have to get ready for the dance."

"I'll see you there," he responded, quickly making his way to the exit, trying to avoid the awkwardness between them.

Before he could leave, she ran up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Can you give me a ride to dance?" She asked, fluttering her eyelashes. Jeff being so affected by her Disney eyes felt wrong now. He wondered if Daniel also got her Disney eyes.

"Oh, uh, sure. I'll pick you up at 7?" He asked.

"Sounds good, I'll see you then," she replied with a cheery smile, pulling him into a hug. She smelled fruity and Jeff never wanted to leave the embrace. But she was pulling away and it was too late.

Annie waltzed out the door, flipping her hair behind her shoulders. Jeff sighed, he had really missed out.

***

Jeff had been settling his nerves since he had gotten home. It was now 6:45 and he wasn't doing much better. Two hours of anxious pacing, combing his hair, and trying on different combinations of shirts and pants. He finally landed on his favorite suit, black button-down, and some dark dress pants. 

He was physically ready, but certainly not emotionally ready. As like this morning, Jeff was nowhere near excited for the Dance. He'd probably just talk to Daniel, try not to spit on his stupid little face, find some girl, bring her back home, and kick her out in the morning.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, he hadn't really slept with many women since Annie crawled into his life. Something about her just made him want to do good and sleeping with women after women was not the greatest thing one could do.

But with Annie occupied by Daniel, Jeff didn't really feel a need to succumb to her stupid good deeds. He'd get drunk, just enough to not think about Annie, but not enough to do anything stupid. Ruining Annie's time is just about the last thing he'd ever want to do.

Jeff walked out the door, grabbing his keys, and prepared to head off to Annie, Troy, and Abed's apartment. It was a short drive, only 10 minutes, so Jeff waited a couple of minutes in his car before walking up.

He knocked on the door and heard some ruffling behind it. After a minute or so of waiting, Jeff saw the door open and Annie appeared in front of him. She was wearing an incredible dress and looked absolutely stunning. It was red and strapless, hugging just the right places. 

Annie cleared her throat and Jeff realized that he must have been staring. She quickly turned around, going to check on Troy and Abed. Jeff swore he saw a blush creeping around her neck but ignored the thought. After a few more minutes of waiting, Troy and Abed appeared from the blanket fort, holding a list.

"Okay, so we have Slow dance confession, super drunk teacher, Dance-off, and competition for King and Queen." Troy counted off.

"That should be enough," Abed stated. "If not, we could always go for the big fight between protagonists." Troy nodded and they walked out the door.

Jeff looked at Annie expectantly and she simply shrugged. He took that as a hint and began to walk out the door, Annie following suit. They walked down the stairs awkwardly, the lack of conversation creating heavy tension between the pair. They made it to the bottom of the staircase where Troy and Abed were devising their plan.

"Okay, slow dance confession is easy. I'll just tell you I love you or something. We can always get professor Duncan drunk again. A Dance-off will be fun, plus we have our whole routine. Our issue might come with our King and Queen situation." Abed finished.

"We just need a man and a woman who are in love but are afraid to admit it. Where are we gonna find those?" Troy asked.

Abed looked at Jeff and Annie, who had already passed them and we're walking to the car, trying to make conversation. "Those two are hopeless," Abed said shaking his head.

"That they are, Inspector. That they are." Troy replied in his best British accent, tipping his non-existent hat.

***

When they arrived at the dance, it was already up and running. For this Dance, the Dean was clearly too lazy, because instead of being removed, all of the booths and chairs were just shoved in the back to an area titled 'Lounge'. 

At the lounge, if you could even call it that, Shirley, Pierce, and Britta were already crowded there. Shirley and Britta looked deathly uncomfortable while Pierce grinned widely and cackled. 

"And so then, Eartha took off her-" 

"Pierce! How are you, buddy?" Jeff said, changing the topic. "Let's go get a drink." He said, wrapping an arm around Pierce's shoulder and beginning to walk him to where the drinks were located. Britta and Shirley mouthed a 'thank you'. Jeff simply nodded and began to make meaningless conversation with Pierce.

As Pierce was finishing the story he was telling Britta and Shirley earlier, Jeff noticed the man from a week prior walk into the cafeteria. "Daniel." He growled under his breath.

"What?" Pierce said. "No, Eartha didn't own a Spaniel." He continued his story but Jeff was only focused on the guy who noticed Annie across the room. The guy who put the smile that was previously only for Jeff on Annie's face. The guy that got to kiss her in front of anybody.

Jeff put on his fakest smile and walked over to where Daniel had his arm around Annie's shoulder. Trying not to grimace, Jeff stuck out a hand for Daniel. "I don't think we've met," Jeff said matter-of-factly. "Jeff."

"Daniel." The younger man responded, shaking Jeff's hand. "I was just telling everyone about the time I went to a facility for the dehabitation of animals in the South American rainforests." 

While Shirley, Britta, and Annie awwed, Jeff just glared at him. Annie was staring up at Daniel, a glimmer in her eyes. As Daniel turned back to face him, Jeff put his fake smile back on.

"Aren't you just the nicest guy," Jeff said with a fake cheeriness in his voice. Britta and Shirley looked worried, Annie looked confused, and Daniel just smiled genuinely up at Jeff. "Oh nonsense," he replied. "I just want to help other people." He finished, squeezing Annie's hand in his own.

"I need a drink," Jeff mumbled, walking away from the conversation.

As Jeff began to sip from his drink, leaning back against the table, he noticed Troy and Abed's stupid antics. They were going around the room, getting various teachers drunk. 

"Professor Cornwallis!" Troy said, jogging over to the older man with a drink in hand. "Do you have fancy another drink?" He finished in a horrible British accent. The professor shrugged and accepted it. Jeff also noticed Duncan across the cafeteria.

He was already on what appeared to be yet another drink out of who knows many. Seeing him be very _hands-on_ with some of the students made Jeff walk over, putting an arm around Duncan's shoulder. Jeff practically carried the waddling man to the teacher's lounge, setting him on the couch. After checking to see if Duncan was okay for a few minutes, Jeff walked back to the dance.

Arriving back in the cafeteria, he noticed the slow dance music surrounding the room. On the left of the floor, Jeff spotted the Dean with his head rested against the chest of what appeared to be a giant German Shepherd costume. Jeff guessed the Dean had swapped one animalistic fetish for the next. On the right side, he saw Troy's head rested against Abed's chest. He saw Troy mouth "I love you". It was probably part of the checklist but who knew at this point.

And on the center of the floor, he saw Annie's head rested against Daniel's chest. Annie leaned up at him, wide-eyed, pulling him into a long, endearing kiss. Jeff nearly vomited at the sight, deciding to swig down his entire drink and head for the next. 

As the tune for the slow dance ended, Neil, The DJ, put on an electronic dance song and the crowd started to cheer. They created a circle around the dance floor, leaving just Troy and Abed in the middle. They circled each other and began to bust their best moves.

Troy began to breakdance, spinning around on the ground on his head. He got up and pointed towards Abed, signaling it was his turn. Abed began to do the robot, the most ironic dance possible for him to do.

After a while, and the tie seeming to be unbreakable, they began to start what seemed to be a choreographed dance. They ripped off their suits, changing into Ben Stiller's and Owen Wilson's costumes for the Zoolander. They then recreated the dance-off scene, the crowd matching the one from the movie. Did they get the whole school in on it?

Jeff rolled his eyes at the antics and began to make his way over to the lounge, where Annie and Daniel sat. He whispered something into her ear and Jeff saw Annie giggle. Daniel kissed his way from Annie's ear to her collarbone before Jeff cleared his throat.

Annie pushed back, looking flushed across her cheeks. "Sorry," Daniel said smiling. "It's hard to keep myself away from her sometimes." Annie pushed flirtatiously at his shoulder and he pulled her back into another kiss.

Jeff sighed despondently and went to get himself another drink, so much for spending time with them. That's clearly how the night would end up. As he went up to the table containing the beers, Annie strolled up behind him.

"Sorry about that." She said as he turned around. "Daniel likes to get touchy, I think it's sweet." She sighed dreamily.

"No big deal," Jeff mumbled, walking away. He didn't mean to be so rude but he couldn't deal with all of this right now, it was too much for him. He knew it wasn't fair to Annie, given that she didn't know why he was acting weird, but it was for her own good that he'd say nothing. At least that's what he told himself.

Annie rushed to keep up with him, having to travel at a slow jog to stay at his pace. She tapped him on the shoulder before he could reach the exit. "I'm glad you got to meet Daniel." She said, putting a smile across her face.

"Me too," Jeff said through, gritted teeth. "He's a real swell guy." Her face darkened. Uh oh.

"Jeff?" She began and he froze up. She knew. She knew everything. He was gonna have a panic attack. "Is this another jealousy thing?"

She raised an eyebrow, confident in her assumption. Jeff quickly rushed to defend himself. "No, I've just had a bit too much to drink. And this music," He put his index fingers into either ear. "This music is killing me." He lied. Although Katy Perry and Taylor Swift weren't exactly his number one choice.

She looked a bit skeptical but shot him a "Feel better", kissed him on the cheek, and slipped away back to Daniel. Like a lovestruck idiot, he began to rub the spot on his cheek where she kissed him. Maybe if he kept rubbing it, it would never go away. His thoughts were interrupted by Britta stomping in front of him.

"Got something on your cheek, Romeo?" Britta asked mockingly. Jeff's longing smile turned into a frown.

"Can it," He said to her. "At least I don't have a boyfriend who's playing with _his_ boyfriend on the dance floor."

In the center of the floor, Troy and Abed were doing a highly dramatic rendition of the tango. Britta looked at Jeff embarrassed but quickly recovered into her natural snark. "Whatever jag." She stuck her tongue out and walked away.

As Britta walked away, the Dean made his way up to the makeshift stage at the center of the cafeteria. The Dean tapped the microphone creating a loud, ringing noise across the room. The whole of the student body covered their ears and ducked their heads to avoid the noise. 

"Sorry about that," The Dean said, raising a hand in apology. "Anywho, you can now cast your vote for your Greendale 'Back to School' King and Queen on our very own app." The Dean left the stage and around the cafeteria, people began to download the app and cast their votes.

Jeff decided to get the app and cast a vote, probably for himself. The Dean had somehow managed to get a headshot from every student in attendance at the dance. Even Daniel, who had never been there in his life. Jeff ignored the creepiness and cast a vote on himself and Annie, then closed the app. 

After a few minutes, and all the votes were submitted, the Dean went and checked the statistics on DJ Neil's computer. He grabbed the mic and headed towards the stage. "And the winners for Back to Greendale King and Queen are Annie Edison and Daniel Cooper." He saw from across the floor, Daniel give Annie a long kiss. They then walked up to the stage holding hands as the Dean clapped and put a tiara on Annie's head and a crown on Daniel's.

Jeff wasn't gonna deal with this. Annie was smiling and kissing Daniel, he didn't need more of that. Jeff slammed his glass on a table, nearly shattering it, and left the cafeteria. Jeff Winger was running away, again.


End file.
